My first project of 2014 is complete! I started it on December 30 and finished it up on the 6th.

Pattern:Pouf pattern from DROPS design with modifications, listed belowYarn: 5 skeins of Loops & Threads Charisma in electric blue and 2 skeins of Lion Brand’s Homespun in lagoon; 2 strands of Charisma and 1 strand of Homespun held togetherNeedle: 9 mm (US 13)Modifications: I used different yarn and needle size, so I adjusted the pattern a bit to accommodate. I CO 38 stitches and my short rows were worked to 6 stitches before the end, then 12. I knit in seed stitch instead of garter until it was about 50″ along the center.

I stuffed it with a standard pillow wrapped in a twin size duvet wrapped in a flat queen size sheet. It turned out the perfect height for use as an ottoman/foot stool in front of our new couch! Oh, I forgot to mention: we bought a new couch! Finally. After living in this house for 3.5 years and only having a love seat + 2 chairs, we now have a couch. I feel so grown up.

It’s also a pretty great seat for my boys to do their homework at the coffee table.

What’s your first project of the year? Oh yeah, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I’m only a week and a half late. I hope everyone had a nice holiday. The kids are finally back in school and so I have a little more time to knit.
Tell me: what’s on your needles/hooks?

I bought two lawn chairs last year when Target had them on clearance. Oh, I KNOW you know the magnetic pull that is a 50-70% off sale at Target. They were white aluminum with yellow (plastic) woven webbing and under $10 each. A series of events (rain, summer sun, etc) mixed with a bit of neglect left them in shambles. Like, a guest at my kids’ birthday party fell through one! Don’t worry, they weren’t seriously hurt. Unless you count their pride because…kids. They like to giggle when adult bums go through chairs.

I knew something had to be done. I didn’t want to just throw them away, you know? Plus, my kid secretly asked his grandpa to get him a trampoline for his birthday and HE DID (!!!), so I now needed something comfortable to sit on while I watched my kid jump. My remaining lawn chair quickly started looking threadbare and once one of the webbing strips snapped, I put it away until I could figure out what to do. Buy new webbing and re-weave them? Crochet a hammock-like seat and pray I’m not too heavy for it? No. No, thank you.

Instead, I Googled “DIY lawn chair” and one link led to another until I found myself HERE. Macrame lawn chairs! Brilliant!

Over the next few days, I watched the video several times, made a trip to Hobby Lobby, and got to work. It was more like weaving, in my opinion, but I think the knots you make at the end of each row with the hooks make it macrame. I didn’t have a book, so I just did a really simple weave pattern.

I used two 100yd balls of 6mm Bonnie Macramé Craft Cord (Amazon link. I used ‘pearl’ & ‘teal’) and my biggest crochet hooks. I had a 15.75mm (US – Q) and a 19mm (US – S) hook. I would suggest two 19mm hooks!

Another thing I would suggest is gloves! My hands were SO sore while working on this. I don’t know if I HAD to pull the cord as tight as I did, but I felt like I should, so that the seat wouldn’t sag under an adult’s weight. You never know who is going to sit in your chairs and if I learned anything from that birthday party incidence it’s that a busted chair is the worst thing a hostess can provide for her guest(s).

If I would have used just one color, the lovely herringbone pattern would be more apparent. I do like the diagonal stripes, though. The pattern was pretty basic: the contrasting color (beige) went OVER 3 groups – or 6 strands – of the first color (blue), then UNDER 3 groups of the first color. On the next row, you repeat the same pattern, but you shift it over once. After the first few passes across, it’s a really simple process. If it hadn’t been so hard on my hands, the other chair would be done already.

I’m in love. If you have any questions, let me know! Check out the video on the page I linked above. I referenced the video A LOT until I got my rhythm going. Imagine me pausing with my hook in one hand and my head cocked to the side with a “huh?!” face several times. It was a really interesting project as it was something completely new to me!

See the tattered lawn chair on the other side of the trampoline? Yeah…

Would you save your torn up lawn chair? How so? Ever tried to macrame one?

That’s my view. And yes, my kid is mid-Gangnam style in the background.

Who’s ready for Spring?! As much as I love winter and not sweating my bum off all day everyday, I cannot wait for flowers and plants and COLOR everywhere. I bought some new baby succulents a little while ago, when my husband was out of town. I also acquired 3 fruit trees for our backyard! They’re babies and probably won’t bear fruit for a while, but I’m excited at the prospect. AND for the shade. Summers are rough around here.

I spent the past week browsing Pinterest and just becoming so overwhelmed with advent calendar ideas. I kept complaining, “we neeeeed a calendar. we neeeeed a countdown. blah, blah, blaaaaaaah.” Finally, yesterday, I stopped complaining and went to Hobby Lobby for supplies. While taking Andrew to the bathroom (OF COURSE), I noticed the shelf with wood sheets and my mind flashed to the few scrap wood trees I’d seen in my Pinterest perusing. Bingo!

I loved the look of the scrap trees, but I wanted something really quick and easy. You can see the exact materials I used, below:

I stamped the numbers using a set my MIL gave me a few years ago. Everything is hot glued together and it hangs with a small piece of yarn. I’m going to fill the tiny envelopes with activity prompts and/or chocolates (I’m thinking Andes!) for both boys. I’m glad I got it done on time. They are super excited for tomorrow! I’m just a little terrified that 2012 is already so close to being over. How’d it go by so quickly?!

first. about 70 tomatoes from my father-in-law. my sons love tomatoes. I had to stop the little one from eating the smallish ones after about 4.

second. the strawberry summer cake. I made one, last year, and loved it. I only made it once more since then, so the taste wasn’t fresh in my mind. When I took my first bite…goodness. It was like a sweet pancake with deliciously gooey strawberry jam on top. SO.GOOD.

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